An Intimate Library Wedding at The Hampshire House

Anda and Gabe spent their fifth date planning their sixth: a weeklong vacation to Paris. On their second day there, the couple said "I love you" for the first time. Two years later, Anda and Gabe married in a late-afternoon ceremony.

The couple chose to marry at Swedenborg Chapel in Cambridge. "We felt very strongly that our wedding should feel like 'Boston'—the goal was to reflect the dual images of the city as both traditional and modern," says Anda.

The service included a processional to Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" and a reading from Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke. The couple wanted to keep the ceremony decor simple. "The chapel itself is so beautiful—the candlelight and the architecture were all that was needed," says Anda.

After the service, the newlyweds and their 103 guests moved to The Hampshire House for cocktail hour before making their way into the venue's wood-paneled library for dinner. Surrounded by shelves of books, a marble fireplace aglow with flickering candles was the room's focal point. Round tables displayed a combination of tall and low centerpieces of orchids, garlic shoots, peonies, and lavender. All florals and decor were by Mimosa Fresh Flower Design.

The three-course menu included chilled cucumber and lump crab soup, beef tenderloin, lobster tail, Chilean sea bass, and stuffed tomatoes, all catered by the venue. Between each course, friends and family offered Champagne toasts. After diner, the couple cut their buttercream-frosted orange Grand Marnier cake.

Anda and Gabe took to the center of the room for their first dance to "My Favourite Book" by Stars. JetSet Sounds provided the evening's lighting and music, which had everyone dancing until midnight. But the festivities didn't end there: "We gathered for table service at the bar at The Liberty Hotel, where more than half of the guests stayed up partying past 2 a.m.," says Anda. "For Boston, that's pretty impressive."